My top 5 tips for turning #TearsIntoSmiles

Posted on May 16, 2017

Both my children love being outdoors. Little Miss H in particular is never happier than when she is running around outside. She’s also a daredevil and loves climbing – especially trees! She’s often covered in bruises, cuts and grazes and as a result I’ve become a pro when it comes to turning #tearsintosmiles.

We’re very lucky to live right by some beautiful woods. And we go for long walks there whenever we can. There is one spot that we always loiter by. We have named it the train of sticks. Mainly because the fallen trees look like a train carriage.

Little Miss H loves spending time climbing on her train of sticks in the woods behind our house.

Little Miss H used to just sit on the logs. But now she climbs on as many of the trees as she can. She really is courageous.

I want her to be brave and push her boundaries. And I am so proud of the gutsy girl she is becoming. But I am also naturally nervous of her pushing herself too far and hurting herself.

This does happen quite frequently. However, she does have a high pain threshold. She tends to only cry if she has really hurt herself.

Little Miss H once fell out of a tree rather dramatically at pre-school. The teaching assistant rushed over to her worried that she might have badly hurt herself. She asked if she was okay. To which Little Miss H replied “Yes, I’m fine. I just fell out of the tree.”

On those odd occasions when she does hurt herself, I hate to see her cry. So I’ve developed strategies to help turn her #TearsIntoSmiles. I thought that I would share these with you just in case you also have a dare-devil to look after.

How to turn #TearsIntoSmiles

With cuddles

Your little one has fallen over and they want a bit of reassurance that everything is okay!

The best way to do this is a massive cuddle.

Wrap them in your arms. Wipe away their tears and tell them how brave they are and that you’re proud of them.

Controlling my reaction

Children feed off their parents emotions. If Little Miss H falls over and I immediately gasp in horror then she is likely to get very upset.

However, if I’m calm and walk over to her slowly. And then give her a big cuddle she doesn’t get as upset.

This is often followed by an impromptu dance and sing of the chorus of Taylor Swift’s Shake it off.

Speaking to Daddy

When Little Miss H hurts herself she wants her Daddy. She is a Daddy’s girl and I know that when she has an owey Mum isn’t enough. I need to pull out the big guns.

When Daddy is at home then he can give her a cuddle. But when he’s at work he can’t magically appear just because Little Miss shouts “I want my Daddy.”

Instead, I phone Daddy and let her talk to him. She can tell him all about her oweyand he can comfort her.

Tickles

I think this one speaks for itself.

But if all else fails and my children are still upset then they get tickled.

Ticklesmake both Little Miss and Little Mister H giggle. And you can’t be upset when you’re giggling.

Be prepared

And finally, my last tip for turning #TearsIntoSmiles is to be prepared.

There were many times when Little Miss H was just beginning to toddle around that we went out and she fell over and scraped her knee. It always took me by surprise and I was often unprepared.

So I created my own kit for turning #TearsIntoSmiles. This now lives in the front pocket of our changing bag. This little kit includes:

1. Antiseptic wipes (to clean those nasty cuts).

2. Antiseptic cream (we call it feel better cream).

3. Disney Princess or Frozen plasters from Elastoplast. Little Miss H actually flatly refuses to have a plaster unless it has a picture of a Disney princess on it. On the odd occasion where I’ve only had a stock of regular Elastoplast plasters, I’ve been forced to draw a princess on with pen. You won’t believe how hard it is to draw Elsa onto a plaster when your child is crying.

Are your children adventurous and constantly getting scrapes and bruises? What are your top tips for turning those #tearsintosmiles?

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About Me

Hello. I'm Lucy, a former fundraiser, wife and mum to two rainbow babies. I write honestly about recurrent miscarriage, mental health and finding happiness in the little things in life. I do this to show mums who are struggling that there is always hope and that a rainbow can appear after the darkest storm.